Cartouche met drakenkoppen en vleugels 1632

Daniel Rabel created this print, "Cartouche met drakenkoppen en vleugels" or "Cartouche with dragon heads and wings," in France, sometime in the early 17th century. It demonstrates the fashion for prints of ornament, which were collected by artists and artisans alike. These prints often served as models for the decoration of luxury goods and architectural features. In this case, the cartouche – a frame with elaborate, often fantastical, ornament – surrounds a small landscape scene. Ornament prints flourished in early modern Europe as part of the print industry. They allowed for the rapid dissemination of artistic ideas, and they also provide us with a record of changing tastes and social values. As historians, we can examine these prints, alongside inventories of workshops and private collections, to understand the circulation of images and the formation of taste in this period. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.